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Europe: Earnings push European shares higher

[LONDON] European shares rose on Wednesday led by mining stocks and financials on a heavy day for regional corporate results.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.5 per cent. Britain's FTSE 100 was flat.

Norwegian insurer Storebrand was the best performing stock on the index, up 6.9 per cent to a nine-year high after forecast-beating earnings and the first dividend in six years was cheered by investors.

Shares of British asset manager Aberdeen Asset Management , which have struggled over the past two years, rose 4.5 per cent after RBC raised the stock to "sector perform" from"underperform".

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Nordic stocks were among the worst-performing stocks, however, with Danish shipping and oil group AP Moeller-Maersk the top European faller, its shares down 6.2 per cent after it missed fourth-quarter profit forecasts and announced its chairman would step down.